Maikel Garcia

Mayke Luis García Díaz

(b. 30 September 1977, Cuba)

Maikel Garcia is a self-taught cartoonist from Havana. He started his artistic career in 1995 working with various newspapers and publications such as Tribuna de la Habana, Palante, Bohemia, Mi Barrio y La calle, Somos Jóvenes, Alma Máter, Cuba Foreign Trade, the humorous supplement DDT. He has also contributed to Colombian magazines Arsenal and Clandestinos, and the Mexican publication Chocarreros.

From 1999 to 2006 he worked for the magazine Pionero where he developed his most popular character: 'Tito'. In 2009 and 2010 he worked for the children's magazine Zunzún where he published his fantasy comic 'Clio and the magic backpack'.

In 2004 he published his first prize-winning comic book 'Memorias de un descamisado'. His second book was a collection of stories with his character 'Tito', and appeared in 2007. In 2008 he published in the German magazine Moga Mobo and in that same year his third comic book appeared. This book, about the character of 'Manuela Sáenz' was written by Victor Joaquin Ortege and it broke sales records in Cuba.

In 2010 he settled in Germany. His 2011 graphic novel 'Las puertas del conocimiento' was about the life of the famous German scientist Alexander von Humboldt. This work is also part of a permanent exhibition in the Meininger Hotel in Berlin, located in the house where the famous researcher has lived an died.

Besides working as a comic artist, Garcia has worked with the animation studio ICAIC in 1997 and he has cooperated with the Goethe Institute since 2007. Maikel's work has been present in various international exhibitions in Japan, Spain, Germany and France. He was part of the jury of various competitions and has given lectures and workshops. He designed murals and graffiti along with other plastic and graphic artists. Maikel has worked as an art teacher in Cuban an French schools and he is a member of the editorial board of the hip-hop Journal Movimiento.